My condensed review w/pics: The Fascination (Grand Suite) to HMC (Cabana) & Nassau

[RedBeard78]

It's like waiting on Christmas to get your HMC review!

 

We cruise in 21 days and reserved a cabana. I just wish cheers package extended to HMC bar....

[ohitssunshine]

[ohitssunshine]

So Half Moon Cay...

 

Just to recap - we booked the cabana probably about 60-45 days out, and we were the first ones to the excursion desk to make our selection and got our first choice.

 

We selected #14 as our first choice, because we wanted to be closer to the end of the beach and away from the crowds. The only reason we did not go with #15 is because I had read a couple of reviews that talked about the off duty crew coming down that way and playing their music and smoking cigarettes right in that area and I thought by choosing #14, we would avoid that.

 

When you make your selection at the excursion desk, they ask for your soda preference and shoe size for the snorkel fins. You will receive an envelope with 2 tickets in it, and on this particular cruise, you are scheduled to meet in the Palace Lounge at 7:45 am.

 

The morning of HMC - we were up and packed and ready to roll right on time. What we brought with us:

 

• Extra Bottled Water
  
• Bluetooth radio
  
• Sunscreen
  
• Cabin Beach Towels
  
• Books
  
• Granola Bars (from home)
  

 

So let me explain - we brought extra waters because my husband doesn't drink soda. For music, we both have google music and you can pin a playlist to be available offline - I had made a cruising playlist before leaving home.

 

Towels

You will have 2 towels in your cabana. We chose to bring 2 more in case we wanted to have one to dry off with and one to lay out on.

 

We actually asked one of the employees what we needed to do with the towels that were in the cabana, because we wanted to be sure that if we left early that we would not be responsible if someone came by and took them. They advised us to return them to the towel hut near the area where you board the tender. I didn't like that we had to ask this, and were not provided that information proactively - but glad we asked.

 

Before heading back, we went to the towel hut and returned them - explaining that they were in the cabana, etc. They were not marked off and were just tossed in with the rest. I wasn't charged for towels so guess all was well?

 

 

 

[happy cruzin]

It's like waiting on Christmas to get your HMC review!

 

 

 

We cruise in 21 days and reserved a cabana. I just wish cheers package extended to HMC bar....

 

 

I too am surprise that CHEERS doesn't cover HMC. Seems weird to use you S&S card and not have it apply to the package. Oh well.....it is what it is I guess! [emoji6]

[esdoorn]

I too am surprise that CHEERS doesn't cover HMC. Seems weird to use you S&S card and not have it apply to the package. Oh well.....it is what it is I guess! [emoji6]

 

 

Well, it is another way to make money.

[ohitssunshine]

 

We arrived at the Palace Lounge at about 7:35 and there were quite a few people already there. Now, I believe that all cabana and villa, and FTTF holders would be there at that time - along with all others who are routed to the lounge to get their tender zone assigned. We were called to line up by one of the exits and began to head downstairs. We were out and on to the tender I'm sure by 8am - if not a couple minutes past. Easy peasy.

 

We used this map to help make our decision on which cabana to choose. The only thing I wish someone would determine is the distance between each and between the tenders and #15. I could not find this information anywhere - but did see someone say they estimated that #15 would be a couple city blocks from the tender area. I live in Florida...there ain't no city blocks.

 

 

I meant to make a mental note of how long the walk took us - but there was so much anticipation that we just booked it to the cabana. I will share that they do offer a trolley ride of sorts, but we opted to walk on the paved sidewalk/trail that runs behind the cabanas. If I had to estimate the walk, I would say that it was maybe 3/4 - 1 mile. I am terrible at this - so take that estimate with a grain of salt.

 

Here is a great shot from behind that shows the difference between the Villa (on the left) and a cabana (on the right)

 

 

The main difference that I know of between the villa and the cabana is that the villa has a hot tub, a private bathroom and the second floor with a balcony. On this particular day, with the sun shining but the water cold - my husband and I agreed that for less than double the price, even with just the 2 of us - we would have opted for the villa. This is based on the fact that the water was pretty cold, and we could have spent time in the hot tub...and had our own bathroom...otherwise we would have been out in the water much more and the cabana would have been perfect.

 

[ohitssunshine]

It's like waiting on Christmas to get your HMC review!

 

We cruise in 21 days and reserved a cabana. I just wish cheers package extended to HMC bar....

 

We chose not to do Cheers based on this - in addition to knowing we would be bar hopping in Nassau. Now that they changed it to include more specialty non alcoholic drinks, I think I will get it every time going forward.

[ohitssunshine]

Our cabana - #14

 

 

 

 

The cabinets along the backwall house from left to right: Mini fridge, storage, storage, garbage can.

 

The view:

 

 

Edited March 21, 2016 by ohitssunshine

[ohitssunshine]

We arrived to the cabana pretty early, because like I said we were on the first tender, and headed straight to the cabana. In fact, we were so early on the tender that they had us wait on the boat while the crew started to unload things.

 

So when we got there, it was completely empty, with the exception of the 4 floating mats. There is a small chalkboard fish on one wall, and in previous reviews I have seen them filled out with a welcome message and family name. Ours was blank and while this is pretty trivial - I remembered when we were at the excursion desk and told them we wanted #14 - they basically just wrote it on a paper. I was like....are you sure you aren't going to give #14 to someone else too? My luck would have had it that we would have gotten to #14 and found out that it was double reserved.

 

Throughout the morning - things started to arrive in bits and pieces. We went to the ship bar around 9am and decided it was late in the day enough to enjoy a mixed drink. Sadly, their blender was not working and I could not get a pina colada so I had something else. When we got back to the cabana, we found all of our snacks had arrived.

 

In addition to what is pictured, you will also receive a bag of tortilla chips. This was the perfect set up for us - we eat all of these foods very regularly and are some of our favorites!

 

[ohitssunshine]

Soon after the snacks arrived, we received our snorkel gear, beach towels and a cooler full of sodas and bottled water. When they say they give you 2 bottles of water, know that they are 2 huge bottles of water. We didn't need the extras that we brought!

 

So now, everything was kind of delivered and we were settling in - mostly laying out on the loungers on the porch. We attempted to use the misting fan when it started to warm up, but one of the holes was messed up and shot water straight out at you instead of in a nice mist haha. Thankfully it wasn't really hot and we didn't need it.

 

Someone finally came by to introduce themselves and check on everything - closer to 10 am. While we were fine, I was disappointed in this - kind of.

 

Here's the thing. When you get a cabana - you want to get there as soon as possible, right? But there is a part of me that would rather have had everything set up and a welcome note, and someone checking in with us - upon our arrival. The thing is - for that to have happened would have meant that the crew got to the island sooner, and we got to the island later. When I consider the options - I would rather be enjoying the cabana earlier, than waiting for it to be 'just right'.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[ohitssunshine]

Let's talk location...

 

I mentioned that this particular cabin, in my opinion - is about 3/4 to 1 mile away from the tender area. Cabins 1 - 4 are going to have many more people hanging out in front of them than those farther down the beach. I don't know how the crowds were between 4 and 13 - because we walked behind them most of the time. There were probably about 10 people total in front of cabanas 13 - 15.

 

While we chose #14 vs #15 due to the reviews that talked about the off duty crew hanging out near 15, I was surprised to see just how much that did not matter. This is because there is hardly enough space between the cabanas to really make a difference here. If the crew had been down there as they had in the past - we would have had the same experience with it being in #14 as we would have in #15.

 

Here is a view to our right - and cabana #15.

 

 

The chairs you see in the picture are a great indicator - there are probably about 8 of those chairs between the two cabanas. I would say that this is true also for the space between 13 and 15 as well.

[ohitssunshine]

Location, location, location

 

The Good

- No crowds out front, super quiet

- Short walk to get even farther down the beach to explore

- Not too far from the bathroom

- It's not directly neighbored by a villa - these are typically rented by larger groups and sometimes larger groups can be louder/rowdier etc. (I did not see this on the day we were there)

 

The Not Great

- The walk to the bathroom...while it wasn't FAR - the cabana is situated on a bit of an incline and the sand is so soft that it is some work to get up to the main trail. No, I am not talking like you need a walking stick and a backpack - but I am letting you know that it is already hard to walk in soft sand, and now you are walking up a bit of an incline, while dodging little burdock things that fall from the trees

- That it really doesn't matter if you are in 13 - 15, as they are all so close together

- Wait service - I had mentioned before that no one came to our cabana until we had told one of the waiters at the bar. I have read reviews where people have tipped them well to start, and they keep coming back. I specifically brought a $20 bill to do this, but never had the opportunity. By the time the one guy came, we didn't need anything and soon after, we headed back. So service was a bust on this trip.

- The walk to the bar (see 'The walk to the bathroom' and multiply by 4)

- The misting fan, unless it gets fixed haha!

 

The Bad

- Seriously? Nothing. Besides, I think any cabana is better than none!

 

Would we choose #14 again? Maybe. From what I had heard, some of the people who chose cabanas closer to the restroom (#9-#11) still had more crowds out front. I like the smaller crowd, but I would not mind a shorter walk to the bathroom and bar. I think I might be apt to go with #12, although next door to a villa. Anyone have #12 that could let me know how it was? :D

 

[happy cruzin]

I'm thinking we will go with 6-9 for our cabana choice.

 

Far enough down so it's not super crowded, close to the restrooms and buffet. Still close enough to enjoy the music from the pirate ship.

 

Thoughts???

[happy cruzin]

Oh....one other question!

 

We booked the cabana - but another couple will be joining us. When we choose the cabana we tell them we have 4?? I don't recall if it asked number of guest when we booked or not! [emoji20]

[ohitssunshine]

I'm thinking we will go with 6-9 for our cabana choice.

 

Far enough down so it's not super crowded, close to the restrooms and buffet. Still close enough to enjoy the music from the pirate ship.

 

Thoughts???

 

I'm sorry I didn't really go down that way, so I can't weigh in here. Teresa had #10, she might be able to share her thoughts!

[ohitssunshine]

Oh....one other question!

 

We booked the cabana - but another couple will be joining us. When we choose the cabana we tell them we have 4?? I don't recall if it asked number of guest when we booked or not! [emoji20]

 

I am trying to remember, I feel like when we booked it is when we said we had 2 people. However, it's the same price for 2 as it is for 4. You only pay extra beyond the 4th person. Even still, if you have more than 4, they probably wouldn't know as you can come and go as you please, but the number reserved is more for the beverages, snorkel gear and towels.

 

If the other couple will not be with you when you select your cabana at the excursion desk, make sure you have their shoe size and soda preference and I would just let the excursions desk know then.

 

Also, we only got 2 tickets for the tender at the time of choosing our cabana because I had reserved just for the 2 of us. If you are unable to add the other couple for some reason, they could simply get on another tender and join you at the cabana anyways. Enjoy!

Edited March 21, 2016 by ohitssunshine

[happy cruzin]

Ok, I lied....one more question!

 

Do you recall the soda choices - I'm thinking same as what's on the ship?? Is the soda in addition to water??

[Terab85]

Soon after the snacks arrived, we received our snorkel gear, beach towels and a cooler full of sodas and bottled water. When they say they give you 2 bottles of water, know that they are 2 huge bottles of water. We didn't need the extras that we brought!

 

So now, everything was kind of delivered and we were settling in - mostly laying out on the loungers on the porch. We attempted to use the misting fan when it started to warm up, but one of the holes was messed up and shot water straight out at you instead of in a nice mist haha. Thankfully it wasn't really hot and we didn't need it.

 

Someone finally came by to introduce themselves and check on everything - closer to 10 am. While we were fine, I was disappointed in this - kind of.

 

Here's the thing. When you get a cabana - you want to get there as soon as possible, right? But there is a part of me that would rather have had everything set up and a welcome note, and someone checking in with us - upon our arrival. The thing is - for that to have happened would have meant that the crew got to the island sooner, and we got to the island later. When I consider the options - I would rather be enjoying the cabana earlier, than waiting for it to be 'just right'.

 

 

I was thinking the exact same thing. Was a little disappointed that our name wasn't written either but like you, I would have rather gotten to the cabana early and just wait for the items to be delivered. Nick mentioned that he wished that we could have left HMC later in the evening so we could have enjoyed it longer. Guess we'll have to plan another cruise with a stop at HMC again.

[RedBeard78]

TeraB, how was #10? We were thinking about any one numbered #10 or higher.

[Terab85]

I'm sorry I didn't really go down that way, so I can't weigh in here. Teresa had #10, she might be able to share her thoughts!

 

 

We had #10 and could barely hear the music. I had a speaker playing in our cabana but only had it loud enough to hear if you were IN the cabana. If you want to hear the music, I'd probably go for #7 or #8.

[Terab85]

I am trying to remember, I feel like when we booked it is when we said we had 2 people. However, it's the same price for 2 as it is for 4. You only pay extra beyond the 4th person. Even still, if you have more than 4, they probably wouldn't know as you can come and go as you please, but the number reserved is more for the beverages, snorkel gear and towels.

 

If the other couple will not be with you when you select your cabana at the excursion desk, make sure you have their shoe size and soda preference and I would just let the excursions desk know then.

 

Also, we only got 2 tickets for the tender at the time of choosing our cabana because I had reserved just for the 2 of us. If you are unable to add the other couple for some reason, they could simply get on another tender and join you at the cabana anyways. Enjoy!

 

 

 

I can add to this one. We had 5 in our group but didn't tell them about the 5th person. I just got one slip of paper for our group and no one ever checked it or counted how many were in our group. We followed everyone down to the tender and then headed directly to the cabana.

[Terab85]

TeraB, how was #10? We were thinking about any one numbered #10 or higher.

 

 

I did a trip review (still can't figure out how to link on my signature) and there are pictures of #10

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2330597

 

Page 3

[happy cruzin]

I can add to this one. We had 5 in our group but didn't tell them about the 5th person. I just got one slip of paper for our group and no one ever checked it or counted how many were in our group. We followed everyone down to the tender and then headed directly to the cabana.

 

Thanks - because I did look back at our reservation and I don't they they ever asked "how many"! :o

[cec311]

I'm thinking we will go with 6-9 for our cabana choice.

 

Far enough down so it's not super crowded, close to the restrooms and buffet. Still close enough to enjoy the music from the pirate ship.

 

Thoughts???

 

We had #7 last cruise and we could still hear the music, but it wasn't terribly crowded. Was also short walk to bathrooms and buffet.